Trump administration sanctions Maduro's 'narco-nephews' after Biden granted them clemency
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced on Thursday it is sanctioning three of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s wife's nephews, a Maduro-affiliated businessman, and...
By Fox News · Fox News
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced on Thursday it is sanctioning three of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s wife's nephews, a Maduro-affiliated businessman, and six shipping companies operating in Venezuela’s oil sector. OFAC also identified six associated vessels that it claims have engaged in deceptive and unsafe shipping practices, and continue to provide financial resources that fuel Maduro’s alleged narco-terrorist regime. "Nicolas Maduro and his criminal associates in Venezuela are flooding the United States with drugs that are poisoning the American people," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote in a statement. "These sanctions undo the Biden Administration’s failed attempt to make a deal with Maduro, enabling his dictatorial and brutal control at the expense of the Venezuelan and American people. Under President [Donald] Trump’s leadership, Treasury is holding the regime and its circle of cronies and companies accountable for its continued crimes." OFAC officials said two of Maduro's wife's nephews, Efrain Antonio Campo Flores (Campo) and Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas (Flores de Freitas), known as the "narco-nephews," were arrested in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in 2015, as they were finalizing a deal to transport hundreds of kilograms of cocaine to the U.S. VENEZUELA ACCUSES US OF 'PIRACY' AFTER SEIZING MASSIVE OIL TANKER A year later, they were convicted on narco-trafficking charges, but were granted clemency in October 2022 by former President Joe Biden . Campo and Flores de Freitas returned to Venezuela and, as of 2025, officials claim they have continued drug-trafficking activities . A third nephew designated by OFAC Thursday, Carlos Erik Malpica Flores (Malpica), was the former purported national treasurer of Venezuela and purported vice president of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA). MARCO RUBIO SAYS TRUMP WILL NOT BE 'SUCKERED' BY MADURO LIKE BIDEN He wa…